Continuous vacuum jar-closing machine



Aug. 21, 1928. 1,681,445 T. L.. TALIAFERRQ Y coNTINUoUs VACUUM JAR cLosme mesma FiledJuly 1o. 1922 4 shts-sht 1 uni Aug. 21, 1928.

l T. L. TALIAFERRO CONTINUOUS VACUUI JAR CLOSING IACHIIB Filed July 10. 1922 4 Shggtgpshgef, 2

Aug.21h, 192s. 1,681,445

T. L. TALAFERRO CONTINUOUS VACUUM JAR CLOSINGYMACHI'HE Filed July l0. 1922 4 Shggtg-Shegt 3 l I m/ Aug. 21, 192s, Q 1,681,445

r`. L. TALIAFERRO CONTINUOUS VACUUM JAR CLOSING MACHINE.

Filed July 10. 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet. 4

Patented Aug. 21, 192s.

UNITED STATES THOMAS L. TALIAFERRO, F CHICAGO, IIiLINOIS.

CONTINUOUS VACUUM JAR-CLOSING- MACHINE.

I Application led J'uly 10, 1922. Serial No. 574,083.

The invention relates to new and useful mprovements in a jar closing machine, wherein the jar closure is held on the jar by means of a vacuum created Within the jar, and which machine operates continuously upon one jar after another in succession while said ars are traveling.

An object of the invention is to provide a jar closing machine of the above character, wherein a rotating turret provided with a series of segmental pockets are closed by a stationary member during the period of vacuumizing, and wherein said stationary clos ing member is reduced to a minimum length so as to decrease the drag on the machine and shorten the period under which the jar is being operated upon for closing with vaccum and to provide a construction wherein the jar is open for inspection for a relatively long period of time.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction of the above character, wherein the stationary member for closing the pockets in the turret is spaced therefrom, and the seal, is accomplished by means of a heavy grease. or the like, between the adjacent surf aces of the turret and stationary closing member.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a machine of the abovetype, wherein the vacuum in the segmental pocket after the jar is closed is released into a segmental pocket which is following so as to create a portion of the desired vacuum therein prior to subjecting said pocket to the vacuum creating system of the machine.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a machine ofthe above type, wherein controlling means operate to stop the mach ine it the Vacuum drops below a certain predetermined point, and wherein the vacuum s vsten'i is provided with means for releasing the same to the atmosphere so as to maintain said vacuum at a predetermined maximum point.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed.

ln the drawings which show by way of illusration one embodiment of the invention- Figure l is a side vi ew, partly in section and partly in side elevation of a. machineembodying my improvements; y

Fig. 2 is a 'partial plan and partially sec- `:ional view of thesame;

F ig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view through the turret; i

Fig. 4 is a view of a portion of thel turret and showing a slightly modied arrangement of exhaust; y

Fig. 5 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in section of the vacuum controlling mechanism.

The invention is shown as applied to a vacuum closing machine for jars, wherein there is a rotating turret having a super-structure formed' with a plurality of regularly spaced segmental pockets which open in a ra dial direction at the outer face ofthe turret. Associated with said turret is a stationary segmental plate which is adapted to Icover a certain number of said pockets as the turret rotates past said stationary member.` This stationair;Y member is spaced a slight distance from the turret, so as to avoid frictional contact therebetween and said space is sealed by means of heavy grease so that the pockets may be placed under vacuum. The jars to be closed are ted continuously and in succession into Vsaid segmental pockets, the covers being placed on the jars ready for sealing. As the turret travels the segmental pocket is placed under proper vacuum which in turn vacuumizes the jar and while under such vacuum the cover is iorced down on to the jar for closing the same.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, I have shown my invention applied to a jar closing machine having a supporting base 1 carrying a column 2 on which is mounted a frame or table 3. Mounted to rotate upon said column and supporting frame is a turret 4, which is provided with a cylindrical superstructure 5, in which are formed a Series of segmental pockets (if-6. These segmental pockets are closed at the top and the back and sides, but have an open face at the circumference of the segmental super-structure.

In other words, these segmental pockets open i outwardly in a radial direction.-

The turret is rotated by means of a driving gear 7, which is secured to the turret. Mounted in suitable bearings on 'the frame 3 is a main rotating shaft 8, driven by'a suitable belt 9. This shaft carries a spiral gear which in turn meshes with a spiral gear l0 on a short vertical stub shaft, likewise mounted on the frame 3. On the upper end of this vertical shaft there is a small gear wheel 11 which meshes with the gear wheel 7 fixed to the turret of the machine. As the main shaft 8 rotates, it will cause the turret to rotate. The belt 9 which operates the main shaft 8 runs over a belt pulley 12. This belt pulley 12 is adapted to be connected with 'the driving shaft 13 by means of co-operating clutch members 14 and 15 of the usual construction. The clutch member 14 is shiftable, and -is forced into engagement for bringing about a driving of the pulley 12 through a spring 16. Mounted on the shaft 13 and rotating therewith, is a cam 17, and this cam is connected with the shiftable member 14 of the clutch. Mounted in the bracket 18 is a rod 19 which is capable of movement endwise in the bracket. A spring 26 normally moves the rod upwardly. Said rod carries a bracket head 21 on its upper end and this bracket head is provided with a roller 22. lVhen the rod is raised the roller comes into cti-operative relation with the cam 17 and will move the cam 17 to the left so as to separate the clutch member. The rod 19 extends into a chamber 23, which is connected by means ol a pipe 24 with a main vacuum pipe line 25. It is understood that this pipe line is kept under suitable vacuum by means of a vacuum creating mechanism. On the lower end ot' the rod 19 there is a piston 26. The vacuum pull on the pipe line 25 operates to pull down on a piston 26 and when said vacuum reaches a desired minimum point, the spring 20 will be compressed, the roller 22 withdrawn from contact with the cam 17, and this allows the spring 16 to force the clutches into engagement and this starts the operation of the pulley 12. Of course, if the vacuum pipe line drops below this predetermined minimum at any time, then the spring 2O will overcome the pull of the vacuum and force the roller 22 into position to be engaged by the cam 17 and this will automatically s'top the machine. This prevents the jars from being run through the machine and closed at a higher pressure than they should be.

The spring 29 also co-operates with the spring 20 in the lifting of the rod 19, and the tension of this spring 29 may be readily varied by shifting the collar 30 against which said spring bears at its upper end. Thus it` is that the point of vacuum at which the machine will be automatically stopped may be varied. That is to say, it the spring tension which raises the rod is increased, then the machine will be stopped as soon as the vacuum pull drops below the point which will overcome the tension of the spring.

I have also provided a controlling pipe 31 which is connected to the main vacuum system. This pipe is provided at its upper end with an outlet valve 32 which is normally raised by means of a spring 33 to closed position. The vacuum pull on this valve 32 is opposed to that of the spring tension of the spring 33. It the vacuum pull in the vacuum system increases to a point above a predetermined maximum level,lthen this valve will be pulled down and open the vacuum system for a time to the atmosphere, and this, of course, will cause the vacuum in the system to drop at once. There are certain classes of products that cannot stand more than fifteen or twenty inches of vacuum, and this control which is adjustable, can be properly seated so as to prevent too great a vacuum in the jar. In other words, 1 have provided a varulunizing machine which will automatically stop unless the vacuum pull is above a predetermined maximum point, and wherein the vacuum pull can never rise above a minimum point.

Coming back again to the closing machine, the pockets of the rotating turret are covered during a portion of their rotation by a closing plate 34. This closing plate 34 is secured to the frame 3 and is segmental in shape. The inner face of the closing plate 34 is spaced a slight distance from the outer surface of the turret, as indicated by the broken line 35, and this space is filled with a heavy grease so that the turret as it rotates does not make frictional Contact with this closing plate, but the space between the two is sealed by the grease so that the closing plate through the o eration of the filling grease closes each poeliet as it passes along said segmental plate so that a vacuum may be produced in each segmental pocket. The pipe 36 is connected with the vacuum system and is threaded into the closing plate 34 and leads to a horizontal channel 37 which is of a greater length than the segmental pocket. As the turret rotates the pockets one after another will be first closed by the stationary plate 34, and as the pockets reach the channel 37 a vacuum will be pulled in each pocket to the extent of the vacuum pull of the vacuum system. When the segmental pockets pass the o ening 38, Fig. 3, the vacuum is broken.

In ig. 4 there is a slightly modified form of the invention wherein the vacuum instead of being released to the atmosphere is released into a pipe 3.9.'and this pipe in turn is connected to an opening 40 adjacent the right-hand end of the closing plate 34. lt will be noted thatas the segmental pockets one after another pass the opening 18, the vacuum in the pockets will be exhausted into the pocket which has just passed behind the closing plate 34. so thaty the exhaust of one pocket is into another and thereby produces. to a partial extent, the desired vacuum in the following pocket. There is, however, an intermediate pocket, indicated at A, which is being subjected to the vacuum pull ofthe nmchine for bringing about the predetermined desired vacuum in the jar.

The jars are received by a feeding-in disk 41. Said feeding-in disk 41 has a series ot' spaced plates 42 with positioning means 43 Inu for centering the 'ar properly on said plate 42. The jars may e placed by hand on these plates 42 or may be fed on to the same by suitable mechanism. This feeding-in disk 41 rotates in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2 of the drawings. Said disk is rotated by means of a gear 44 which -meshes with the gear 7 of the turret, so that these parts are rotated in unison and the plates 42 are spaced so as to move into the pockets. These plates are of thin metal and move over the floor of the pockets into the turret thus carrying the jars into the pockets. A segmental guiding rail 45 aids in holding the jars on the plates until they are carried into the pockets. The jars are stripped from the plates into the pockets by means of a segmental guiding rail 46. As the turret rotates the jars will be engaged by the spring member 47 which will force them back into the pockets and against the centering arms 48 which engage the opposite sides of the jar and centers the same in the pocket.

Associated with each pocket is a closing head 49. Said closing head is a. yielding head and is adapted to come down on to the cover or closure for the jar and force the same down of the turret is comparatively' little.

on to the jar after it has been placed under vacuum and also serves to hold the closure on the jar until the vacuum in the chamber is broken after which, of course, the closure is firmly held seated on the jar by atmospheric pressure. E ach closing head 49 is carried by a reciprocating plunger 50 which is normally raised by means of a spring 5l. At the upper end of each plunger is a roller 52. Mounted on the frame 3 is a bracket arm 53 which aids 1n carrying the cover plate 34. This bracket 53 carries an overhanging arm 54. T'he turret is provided with a central shaft 55 secured to the outer end of this arm 54 and the turret rotates about this shaft. Mounted on the arm 54 is an operating cam 56 which engages the rollers 52 of the plungers 50 in succession, forcing the closing head down on to the cover or closure for the jar and this cam operates to hold the cover on until the vacuum is broken.

It will thus be seenthat the jars are fedone after another and in succession on to continuousl rotating turret and as the turret rotates t e pockets are placed under vacuum, a vacuumis created in the jar, after which the cover or closure is forced on the jar and then'the vacuum in the pocket is released. Inasmuch as the cover plate 34 is very short, the drag on the machine during the rotartlipln e space in the rotation of the turret utilized for closing the jars is very short and this gives considerable space in which the jars may be placed in the pockets and thoroughly inspected after they are placed to see that they are rightly placed and then discharged from thepeckets after they are closed.

`so that this disk is continuously rotated.

There are strippers or ej ectors for forcing the jars out of the pockets and there is one ejector for each pocket. These ejectors consist Aof a yoke-shaped member 59 adapted toengage the jar and push it forward on to the disk 57. The y0kc-shaped member is carried by a rod 60. This rod 60 carries a roller 61 at its inner end, see Fig. 1 of the drawings, and this roller 6l runs on a stationary cam G2 which is secured to brackets 63--63 mounted on the frame 3 of the machine. The rod 60 passes through a suitably packed bearing 64, so that it may reciprocate through the wall ofthe pocket without in any way disturb-ing the vacuum `created Within the pocket, although the reciprocating movements ofthe rod do not takeplace until the pockets are' opened to the atmosphere. In this connection, it may be stated that thev plungers 50 also workthrough packed stuing boxes 65 which enables the pockets to be` air tight. The cam 62 is so shaped as to control the forward movement of the ejectors and ermit the ejectors to move the jars out of t e pockets and on to the receiving disk. A guiding plate 66 fills in the space between the turret and the disk 57 and'serves as a rest for the jar as it is moved on to the disk. A guide bar 67 directs the movement of the jar. A second guide bar 68 prevents the jars from moving ofi' from the disk 57 asit rotates and a guide bar 69 strips the ars from the disk.

The ejectors 60 are spring pressed in an outward direction and are positively lmoved inwardly by means of the cam 62. There are two springs 70 and 71 for each ejector. These springs hold the rollers 6l in engagement with the cam 62 and when the cam 62 permits then the ejector will be moved upwardly stripping the jars from the pockets on to the receiving disk 57.

It is thought the operation of my machine will be perfectly obvious 'from the description which has been iven. Theelilled jars with the covers or c osures lightly resting thereon are placed on the feeding-in disk, one on each of the spaced plates, which plates are properly spaced so as to carry the jars into the segmental pockets in the turret. Thejars are stripped from these feeding-in plates on to the supporting floor of each pocket, and

as the turret rotates the pockets will one after automatically stops the machine when thepressure rises above a predetermined point.

0n the other hand, the controlling mechanism also prevents too great a vacuum for the products being put in the jars by the control valve which opens the vacuum system to the atmosphere if the vacuum pull should raise to a p'redetermined maximum point. After the pocket has been put under the proper vacuum, then the closing head comes down, seating the cover or closure on the i and While the cover is held seated on the jar by the closing head the vacuum in the pocket is exhausted either to the atmosphere or to solne following pocket to start the vacuum in the said poel-:- et. 'l`he continuous rotation oll the, turret bring'. the closed jars to the discharging point where they are automatically moved out of the scgmenlal pockets on to the receiving disks.

It is obvious that minor changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may he made without departing froln the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.-

Ha ving thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. A jar closing machineincluding in combination a continuously rotating turret having a plurality of segmental pockets, a relatively short stationary member for closing said pockets in succession, means for placing the, pockets under vacuum while passing said stationary member, devices associated with each pocket for closing the jars While under vacuum and While the turret is rotating, and a feeding-in disk for feeding the jars into the segmental pockets, said disk having spaced supports adapted to carry the jars into the pockets, said disk being disposed relative to the turret whereby said jars are fed into the pockets at a point dist-ant from the edge ofthe stationary member so that said jars may be inspected to insure that they are properly positioned in the segmental pockets before, concealed from view by said stationary member and placed under vacuum.

2. A jar closing machine including in combination a continuously rotating turret baving a plurality of segmental pockets, a relatively short stationary member for closing said pockets in succession, means for placing the pockets under vacuum While passing said stationary member, devices associated with each pocket for closing the jars While under vacuum and while the turret is rotating, a feeding-in disk for feeding jars into the seg'- mental pockets, said disk having supports for the jars spaced to correspond to the segmental pockets and adapted to pass successively into said pockets for carrying the jars into the pockets, and means for rotating the feeding-in disk in timing With the turret. said 'feeding-in disk being so disposed as to feed the jars into the segmental pockets at a point distant from the edge of the stationary member whereby saiu jars can be inspected to insure that they are properly placed in the pockets before they pass from View behind the stationary member and are placed under vacuum and closed.

3. A jar closing machine including in combination a continuously rotating turret having a plurality of segmental pockets, a relatively short stationary member for closing said pockets in succession, means for placing the pockets umleivacuum While passing said stationary member, devices associated with each pocket for closing the jars while under vacuu u and while the turret is rotating, a

feeding-in disk for feeding jars into the segmental pockets, said disks having supports for the jars spaced to correspond to the segmental pockets and adapted to pass successively into said pockets for carrying the jars into the pockets, means for rotating the feeding-in disk in timing with the turret, and means located in each segmental pocket and engaging the jar intermediate the ends thereof for centering the jar underneath the closing device associated with said pocket.

4. A jar closing machine includingr in combination a continuously rotating turret having a plurality of segmental pockets, a relatively short stationary member for closing said pockets in succession, means for placing the pockets under vacuum While passing said stationary member, a yielding head associated with each pocket for closing a jar therein, stationary means associated with said turret and operating upon said heads in succession after the jars have been placed under vacuum for forcing the covers on to the jars, a feeding-in means for feeding the jars into the segmental pocket, a centering means located in each segmental pocket for centering the jar under the closing head, and stationary means operating upon said centering means for moving the same outwardly radially of the turret for discharging the closed jar flom the segmental pocket.

5. A jar closing machine including in combination, a continuously rotating turret having a plurality of segmental pockets, a relatively short stationary member for closing said pockets in succession, means for placing the pockets under vacuum While passing said stationary member, devices associated With each pocket for closing the jar While under vacuum and While the turret is rotating, a feeding-in disk for feeding the jars into the segmental pockets, said disk having spaced supports adapted to carry the jars into the segmental pockets, a centering means located in each segmental pocket and engaging the jar intermediate the ends thereof for centering the jar under the closing device, and a stationary means operating upon said centering means for moving the same outwardly radially of the turret for discharging the closed jar from the segmental pocket.

6. A jar closing machine including in combination, a continuously rotating turret having a plurality of segmental pockets, a relatively short stationary member for closing said pockets, means for placing the pockets under vacuum While passing said stationary member, devices associated lWith each pocket for closing the jar While under vacuum and While the turret is rotating, a feeding-in disk for feedingtlie jars into the segmental pockets, said disk having spacedsupports adapted to carr the jars' into the segmental pockets,

means or stripping the jars from the feedingin disk into the pockets, a centering means located in each segmental pocket for centering the jar under the closing device, and a stationary cam operating upon said centering means in succession for moving the same outwardly radially of the turret and dischargin the closed jar from the segmental pocket, an a receiving disk for receiving the discharged ars. J In testimony Whereof,' I alx my signature.

THOMAS L. TALIAFERRO. 

